THE PAGEANT OF LINCOLN 



MCMXVII 



( ( 



NEBRASKA" 

ASEMI-CENTENNIAL MASQUE 



BOOK BY HARTLEY B. ALEXANDER 
MUSIC BY HOWARD L KIRKPATRICK 
PAGEANT DIRECTOR. ROBERT D. SCOTT 






'Z^ 



Copyright 1917 

by 

Hartley B. Alexander 

D. Of D, 
JUN 23 191/ 



INTRODUCTION 



^^^:^HE Third Annual Pageant of Lincoln falls 
■ ^ J ill the year of the semi-centennial of state- 
^^^ hood of the state of Nebraska. The Pageant 
is, accordingly, appropriately devoted to the state 
as a whole, and is made a part of the state's semi- 
centennial celebration. Its title is "Nebraska," and 
its scenes aim to represent the forces and events 
which brought the state into being, and the ideals 
vvhicli animate its citizens. 

Part I of the pageant is entitled The Spirit of the 
West. This part is composed of songs and dances 
symbolizing the forces — hitman and natural — of 
prairie-land life. It opens with a chorus of Adven- 
turers, led onward by the Genius of Progress, march- 
ing into the West. They are greeted by the dancing 
Prairies, and the song, "Nebraska," which follows 
their welcome, signifies that their quest for home- 
stead is ended. The dance of the Fields represents 
the Prairies transformed into fruitful farmlands. 
But all is not unalloyed ease. The plague of the 
Grasshoppers, destroying the life of the Fields, is 
a token of the toils that beset the breakers of the 
sod. However, there are compensating forces in 
nature, — the Birds, driving the Grasshoppers before 
them, are symbolical of such forces. Then comes 
the apparition of the Spirit of the West, summon- 
ing the Golden Hopes of the Future, which gather 



12 Pageant of Lincoln 

about her in ever-increasing numbers. As they re- 
cede — fairj^-Iike dancers,— the Chorus takes up again 
the refrain of "Nebraska," and the Part is ended. 
(This Part of the Pageant of 1917, is formed from 
scenes in the Pageant of 1915.) 

Part II is entitled The Louisiana Purchase. The 
purchase of the "Louisiana Territory" from Napole- 
onic France by President Jefferson was the event 
which gave the lands of which Nebraska is a 
part to the United States. This event is, therefore, 
the real beginning of the political history of the 
state. The purchase was made at a time when war 
was threatening between France and England, a fact 
which is supposed to have made Napoleon the readier 
to make the sale. James Monroe, afterwards Presi- 
dent, was Jefferson's representative in France, al- 
though the actual transactions were carried on with 
the American minister, Livingston. The outstand- 
ing figures in the transaction. Napoleon and his 
minister, Talleyrand, President Jefferson and INIon- 
roe, are represented in a series of three scenes meant 
to be (as their setting suggests) representative of 
the animating ideas of the men who made history, 
rather than historically faithful in any narrow sense. 

Part III is called The Plainsmen. This Part sym- 
bolizes the different peoples who have made Ne- 
braska's prairies their home. First appear the abori- 
gines, tlie Indians. The name "Nebraska" is an 
Omaha Indian name, a])plied by the Inrlians to the 
Platte Kiver, and signifying 'the broad' or 'the shal- 



"Nebraska" 13 

low river' ('Platte' is a translation of this, given as 
a name by the French). First to enter in this scene 
is a band of Indians, singing an Omaha song (to one 
of the most beantiful of all Indian melodies). They 
recognize the 'Nebraska land,' and their leader offers 
an invocation to all the powers of nature. Next 
appear a company of French Voyageurs, or ex- 
plorers. The first white men to describe Nebraska 
were the brothers, Pierre and Paul Mallet, who came 
from New Orleans in 1739. Afterwards the Platte 
country became a regular objective for French trap- 
pers and traders. Following the French, appear the 
Pioneers, with their prairie-schooner and ox-team, 
signifying the coming of the Americans from the 
eastern states. It was these who finally transformed 
the prairies from hunting-grounds into corn fields; 
hence their advent is appropriately followed by the 
Car of the Corn, led onward by the Harvest Maiden. 
The Part closes with a humoresque chorus and dance 
of Nursemaids, to the nowadays popular cry of 
"Better Babies," — which, after all, has a prophetic 
point to it. 

Part IV represents The Making of the State. 
Politically the two events of moment in Nebraska's 
history, after the Louisiana Purchase, are the crea- 
tion of territorial government, in the Kansas-Ne- 
braska Bill of 1854, and the admission to statehood 
in 1867. Oddly enough, these two events, falling on 
either side of the Civil War, are both connected with 
the issue of slavery and its settlement. The Kansas- 



IJf Pageant of Lincoln 

Nebraska liill, with its attendant substitution of 
"squatter sovereignty" for the Missouri Conipioniise, 
was one of the great stei)s leading up to the \\'ar, 
for it reoi)ened the whole question of the expansion 
of slavery in the Tnited States, in the scene por- 
tiaying the passage of this bill, appear Stephen A. 
Douglas, the man whose influence carried through 
the measure, Dixon, the Southern senator who moviMl 
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and Senators 
Seward and Sumner rei)ie-enting the hostility to 
the measure on the part of the Eastern states. Fol- 
lowing this scene, there is a brief symbolical repre- 
sentation of the ( ivil War, and then we come to the 
contest between President Johnson and Congress 
over the admission of Nebraska to statehood, in 18G7. 
The President maintained that Congress had no 
Constitutional right to demand that the new state 
enfranchise colored voters, that this was an issue 
to be left to the state's own constitutional conven- 
tion. However, Congress passed the admission bill 
over the President's veto, and Nebraska became a 
state under the restriction. Thus, in a sense, the 
territorial and state admissions of Nebraska mark 
the opening and close of the Civil War, and are in- 
evitably associated witli all the great figures of the 
time, including that of Lincoln, after whom Ne- 
braska's capital city is named. It is, therefore, 
proper that the Spirit of Lincoln should be intro- 
duced as one of the forces which have framed the 
ideals of the state. It is interesting to reflect that 



"Nebraska" 15 

the events leading to the political formation of Ne- 
braska were associated with such momentous move- 
ments in world history as the Napoleonic Wars and 
our Civil War, and that the Louisiana Purchase and 
the Making of the State should be, as it were, in the 
shadows of the two greatest men of the Nineteenth 
Century — Napoleon Bonaparte, the Imperialist, and 
Abraham Lincoln, the Democrat. Not even as a 
wilderness was Nebraska politically remote from 
the world's centers. 

Part V of the Pageant is called The State and the 
Nation. It is needless to observe that no state in 
the Union is sufficient unto itself, that each is a part 
of a Federal Unit. No representation of Nebraska 
which did not symbolize this fact would be equal to 
the truth. The Spirit of 1776, is the spirit of Liberty 
and Justice, foundational in the United States as 
a whole, and hence in each of its several states. 
This Spirit of '76 is first represented, — the Revolu- 
tion which gave us the flag of Independence. Next 
appears Columbia and the Thirteen Colonies which 
formed the charter members of the nation. Other 
states are added, symbolized by groups of dancing 
stars, — twenty-three in all, for Nebraska was the 
thirty-seventh state. For a time the Union was torn 
betwixt North and South, but that wound is happily 
healed, and Nebraska may be regarded as the child 
of a re-united Union." Fifty Years — ten pentads — 
have come bringing their gifts since Nebraska became 
a state, and these are symbolized in the Procession 



16 



Pageant of Lincoln 



of the Years, passing Columbia and Nebraska, But 
it nnist never be forgotten that Nebraska is a child 
of Colunibia, and that the gifts of the Years are made 
possible by the sheltering power of the great nation 
of which it is Nebraska's privilege to form a part 
and to which Nebraska, along with all the other states, 
owes the deep allegiance of their common faith in 
Liberty and Justice, with all that this implies. The 
pageant closes with an invocation to the flag of the 
nation, and ''The Star-Spangled Banner." 




"NE BRASK A" 

A SEMI-CENTENNIAL MASQUE 



PART I 
Spirit of the West 

PART II 
The Louisiana Purchase 

PART III 
The Plainsman 

PART IV 

The Making of the State 

PART V 
Nebraska and the Nation 



PART I 
THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST 



Characters and Chorus: 

GENIUS OF PROGRESS 

CHORUS AND ADVENTURERS 

THE PRAIRIES AND CHORUS 

CHORUS 

THE FIELDS 

THE GRASSHOPPERS 

THE BIRDS 

THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST 

GOLDEN HOPES 



Uhe Spirit of the West 



SCENE: Background of trees and greenery. Drums 
announce the opening; then an orchestral overture, brilliant 
and vivid, suggestive of a vigorous march. From behind 
the trees are heard the voices of the Adventurers in the first 
words of their choric song. 

Westward ho! Westward ho! Westward ho! 

THE ADVENTURERS enter, led onward by the Genius of 
Progress, to a martial air, singing as they march: 



Westward ho! the march of Empire! 

Westward ho! the way of Man! 
Westward, where the wings of Promise 

Like an arch of glory span 
The horizon of the nations 

As they read God's destined plan! 

In the lust of Wonder waking, 

In the pride of youthful power, 

Westward, where the light is breaking 
On a glorious morning hour, 

Westward, where the soil is waiting 
Yet to bring man's life to flower! 



22 Pageant of Lincoln 

By the pilgrim Hope led onward, 

By the warrior Right made strong, 

For their king the kingly Future, 

Come the nations, throng on throng. 

Meeting toil and high adventure 
Heart upborne by living song! 

Westward ho! the march of Empire! 

Westward ho! the way of Man! 
Westward, where the wings of Promise 

Like an arch of glory span 
The horizon of the nations 

As they read God's destined plan! 

As the song ceases and the chorus recedes to the wings, the 
music becomes tumultuous, quivering, faritastic, with stops 
and starts, croonings and soft laughter, suggestive of early 
sumyner on the prairie. 

SPRITES OF THE PRAIRIE enter in small groups, like 
wind-wisps springing up here and there on a summer's 
day. They dance and pirouette, and beckon enticingly to 
the Adventurers. 

FIRST GROUP: 

Fairest flowers. 
Gentle showers, 
Sunny hours, oh, sunny hours . . . 

SECOND GROUP: 

Winds that blow 

To and fro. 

Golden, golden afterglow . . . 



The Spirit of the West 23 



THIRD GROUP: 

Gift of corn 

Hued with morn, 

Wonder gift of fragrant corn 

FOURTH GROUP: 

Tender dews, 
Honey brews. 
Drafts of magic none refuse . 

FIFTH GROUP: 

Hill and dale, 

Swell and swale. 

Springs of life that never fail 



ALL: 



Prairies, prairies, flowing prairies, 
Prairies, prairies, are we all: 
Prairies, prairies, living prairies, 
Hark, O harken to our call! 

SIXTH GROUP: 

Cease thy quest, 

Come and rest 

On the Prairie's mother-breast . . . 

SEVENTH GROUP: 

Far and wide 

Here abide. 

Earth can show thee naught beside 



24^ Pageant of Lincoln 

ALL: 

Prairies, prairies, fallow prairies, 
Prairies, prairies, are we all : 
Prairies, prairies, fruitful prairies, 
Harken, harken to our call! 



THE SPRITES recede luringly, and the Adventurers and 
the Chorus advance. The music becomes jubilant, with a 
note of prophetic exaltation as all join in the choric Hym n 
to Nebraska. 



CHORUS: 

Nebraska, Nebraska, 

Thee we obey! 
Jewelled with the Night, Nebraska, 

Diademed with Day! 
Nebraska, Nebraska, 

Land with promise blest, 
Brightest of the stars emblazoned. 

Queen of the West! 



Here the splendors of the prairies 

Greet the splendors of the skies, 
And the green of Earth immingles 

With the blue of Paradise! 
Here the dance of dewy cornfields 

Flashes welcome to the sun. 
And the singing winds make music 

When the toil of day is done! 



The Spirit of the West 25 

Nebraska, Nebraska, 

Mother of States! 
Golden hope shall greet, Nebraska, 

All who seek thy gates ! 
Nebraska, O Nebraska, 

Home shall be thy sod 
While thy prairies yield in fruitage 

Bounty of God! 

THE ORCHESTRA changes to light and graceful varia- 
tions upon a theme indicative of joy and summertime. In 
parallel groups, from several points, enter the Fields — 
girlish forms, with costumes symbolic of Wheat, Corn, the 
Grasses, etc. They dance joyously while the Chorus sings. 



FIELDS: 



CORN: 



We are the Fields, the singing Fields, 
Each in turn her treasure yields. 
Through the golden summer days, 
On through autumn's ruddy haze . . , 
Daughters of the Prairies! 

Darlings of the Sun! 
One by one we break the sod, 
Ripen one by one! 



Dancing through the day's delight. 
Whispering to the listening night . . 



WHEAT: Light and shadow, 
Hide and seek. 
Hilly slope 
To shady creek . . , 



26 Pageant of Lincoln 

OATS and RYE: 

Plumes and tresses lift and nod 
O'er the prairie's verdant sod . . . 

MEADOWGRASS: 

Dozing, dewy end of day, 
Where the fire-fly lanterns play; 
In the morning webbed and pearled 
Opening to the sunny world . . . 

FIELDS: 

We are the Fields, the dancing Fields! 
Gladly each her treasure yields . . . 
Daughters of the Prairies! 

Darlings of the Sun! 
One by one we break the sod, 
Ripen one by one! 

THE FIELDS circle about in animated dance. Meantime 
the grisly, ogling forms of the Raveners (the terrible Grass- 
hoppers) are silently gathering, staring hungrily at the 
lithe dancers. Suddenly the Fields perceive them; they flee 
hither and thither in panic. 

FIELDS: 

The Raveners! The Raveners! 

THE GRASSHOPPERS advance, clumsily hopping in 
pursuit now of this one, now of that; threatening with their 
antennae; ogling with glozy eyes; pursuing the terrified 
Fields to a strident song. 



The Spirit of the West 27 

GRASSHOPPERS: 

Oats! Corn! Rye! Wheat! 
Wherever we find them, there we eat; 

Wherever they grow we make our camp, 
Fill our bellies, chew and champ! 
Rye! Wheat! Oats! Corn! 
Green at even, gray at morn; 
Green in the morning, gray at eve, — 
Naught but the dead stalks do we leave! 
Wheat! Oats! Corn! Rye! 
On labor of men we thrive, say I ! 
Wherever they sow 'tis ours to reap, — 
Champ and chew where living's cheap! 

THE GRASSHOPPERS clumsily pursue the frightened 
Fields, from the vantage of the trees come the avenging 
Birds — Bluebird, Blackbird, Jay, Lark, and all the winged 
tribe — driving the Raveners before them. 



BIRDS: 



After them! After them! 

After the Raveners! 

Winged ones all, 

Hark the call! 

On the pirates swiftly fall! 

Ho, ye Valkjo-s of the skies. 

Ours shall be a dread surprise! 

Where they slaughter we shall slay. 

From break of day to break of day! 

A f ter them ! After them ! 

After the Raveners! 



28 Pageant of Lincoln 

THE BIRDS drive the Grasshoppers after the Fields. As 
all recede, the music changes from tumultuous pursuit to 
graceful motion and clear, sweet melody. 

THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST enters, silvery-veiled, 
mysterious. She turns and beckons, as if summoning her 
followers. 

SONG: 

Golden Hopes, golden Hopes, 

Lo, I bid you follow me 
Where the gate of morning opes 

Aye, entrancingly . . . 
Oh, heart of mine, thy dear surmise 

Maketh me to see 
Shining hope in all the sky's 

Blue serenity. 

Sun and rain will come again. 

Tender green the fields will show, 
Harvest come with yellow grain, 

Where the wild flowers blow . . . 
Oh, where the breezes bring caress, 

Where cool rivers flow. 
Fairy Hopes will come to bless 

Life with golden glow. 

AS THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST summons them, the little 
golden Hopes — fairy-like children — come shyly and gather 
about her. Like a ring-round-the-rose they dance around 
the Spirit of the West, others and yet others following, till 
she is the center of a whole garden of shining Hopes, gaily 
circling about her. 



The Spirit of the West 29 

HOPES: 

Hopes we are for men and women, 

Hopes we are for youth and maid ! 

Hopes we are for all the future, 

Glad of heart and unafraid ! 
On the soil of broad Nebraska, 

While the sun shall tell his days. 
Golden Hopes shall be men's children. 

Golden Hopes will sing God's praise! 

THE FIELDS, the Birds, the Grasshoppers, and others 
gather at the wings, so that the whole group forms a crescent 
bow (symbol of Hope), with the Spirit of the West, sur- 
rounded by the Hopes, like a constellation within its arms. 
Again the Hymn to Nebraska. 



CHORUS: 



Nebraska, Nebraska, 

Thee we obey! 
Jewelled with the Night, Nebraska, 

Diademed with Day! 
Nebraska, Nebraska, 

Land with promise blest. 
Brightest of the stars emblazoned. 

Queen of the West! 



Exeunt, marching. 



END OF PART I 



PART II 
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE 



Characters and Figures: 

PRESIDENT JEFFERSON 

JAMES MONROE 

NAPOLEON 

TALLEYRAND 

AMERICAN SOLDIERS 

FRE^fCH GRENADIERS 

TRUMPETER 

PAGES AND ATTENDANTS 



^he Louisiana Purchase 



A TRUMPET is heard. The drums heat a dignified 
march. Enter (center): First, the Trumpeter, mounted 
on a dark horse, in the garb of a Napoleonic cuirassier 
(plumed helmet, cuirass, etc.); next, abreast, two Amer- 
ican Soldiers in the high hat, with pompon, of early U. S. 
Army, and two Napoleonic Grenadiers, with tall bearskin 
shakos; the Americans carry United States flags; the 
grenadiers, military banners of imperial France. Behind 
these, on white horses, abreast, come Talleyrand, Napoleon, 
Jefferson, Monroe; a page leads each horse, the pages 
wearing military costumes of their respective nations. 
Back of the horsemen march curtain-bearers with wing and 
back curtains swung between bamboo poles, the back cur- 
tain adorned with the arms of France and the United 
States, the poles carrying the national penants; pages in 
livery assist the polehearers, while other pages follow with 
the accessories demanded, a small table and a chair of 
Empire style. 

THE PROCESSION advances to the forefront and halts. 
The Trumpeter sounds his trumpet and withdraws, left, 
halting at a moderate distance. The American Soldiers 
and the Grenadiers part right and left, the Americans still 
on the inside, the Grenadiers outside and a little behind. 
The wing curtains are swung behind them, while the space 



5-4 Pageant of Lincoln 

between the two groups is the full width of the back curtain, 
which is now spread by its bearers. Before it, on their 
white horses are the four representatives of France and 
America. 

THE TRUMPET sounds again. The four statesmen dis- 
mount, and advance, saluted by the loivered flags of France 
and America. The pages lead the horses to each side, 
forming, as it were, wings to the symbolic stage thus 
created. Again the trumpet sounds, the lowered flags are 
raised; Napoleon and Talleyrand step out, left, leaving 
Jefferson and Monroe before the curtain, which now 
represents the President's office, Washington. 

PRESIDENT JEFFERSON {advancing slightly): 

Monroe, I send you forth this day to France, 

A special envoy. 'Tis my will you buy 

For these United States the broad domain 

Of Louisiana, — all the lands that lie 

Between the Mississippi and the hills 

That crest the continent. Not Spain nor France 

Nor any Old World state should brunt us West, 

For westward m.oves our nation's march, 

And westward lies the hope of New World men, 

And from the fallow prairies of the West 

States shall be shaped, sovereignties be born, 

Each with her gift unto this Federal Whole, 

Until the Union stands inviolate 

Between the choric surfs of Earth's great seas! . . . 

Monroe, go ye to France, Napoleon greet, 



The Louisiana Purchase 35 

And tell him there be empire-builders here, 
Across Atlantic's waves, whose dreams match his. 
And whose achievements, hewn with woodman's axe. 
Cut with the toiler's plow, shall long outlive 
The sword-carved realms of the Ancient Hemisphere ! 



MONROE (seizing Jefferson's hand): 

Jefferson, I accept this statesman's charge. 

My mind is one with yours, that we should be. 

Here in America, free from threat and moil 

Of overseas ambitions. Here Destiny 

Has framed a home for Liberty, a home 

For men oppressed, who here shall live that life 

Of free endeavor which is their human Right! 

I go, and to Napoleon will bear 

The plea of equity and the pledge of faith. 



JEFFERSON: 

Which he will hear! The land of Lafayette 
Will ne'er hold back the troth and amity 
Sealed in the mutual blood of men who gave 
Freely their lives for freedom. Go you hence: 
Your country's blessing be your recompense. 

Exit Monroe, right. 

JEFFERSON: 

I have a vision of a land to be 
Broad as the continent, and sea to sea 
Consecrate to Justice, Law, and Liberty! 



36 Pageant of Lincoln 

JEFFERSON follows Monroe, right, where the two form a 
group balancing that of Napoleon and Talleyrand on the 
left. The trumpet is sounded. The American Soldiers 
and the Grenadiers exchange places, thus symbolizing the 
transition from Washington to Paris. The servants in 
livery enter with the chair and the table. They go out. 
The Grenadiers salute with the banners of France. As 
they resume their positions. Napoleon enters, pacing to 
and fro, hands behind his back. He stops suddenly, with 
a gesture indicating decision. 

NAPOLEON: 

Aye, shadows hang above this moody world . , . 
War glowers. Europe must be wrapped in red, 
And smoke of battles must ascend again 
Blackening heaven's blue. Such is the deed 
Of empire-makers in a world long puppeted 
By Kings and Conquerors and Caesarian lines! 
My fate is here, — but shall the New World, too, 
Be into war's caldron cast? Napoleon 
Is not the man to will it! — Talleyrand! 

NAPOLEON knocks aggressively on the table with his 
knuckles. Talleyrand enters, bearing papers. A boy, 
following, places pen and ink on the table. Talleyrand 
deposits his papers and salutes Napoleon, kissing his 
proffered hand. 

TALLEYRAND: 

Sire, and Emperor! 



The Louisiana Purchase 37 

NAPOLEON: 

Talleyrand, yesterday came Livingston, 
America's ambassador, again 
Seeking to buy New Orleans and its lands; 
And now Monroe himself, from Jefferson 
A special envoy, waits. Is it not so? 

TALLEYRAND: 

Aye, Sire; you name the circumstance. 'Tis so. 
And even now Monroe awaits our answer. 

NAPOLEON: 

What say you, Talleyrand; shall it be a sale? 
Here, on the eve of war, a wilderness 
Beyond the seas is more a hurt than help 
To our ambitions. England would be quick 
To make of it our weakness, with the seas 
In her control. Cash is a potent salve 
In time of war; and shall we not then put 
Cash in our coffers, and let the desert go? 

TALLEYRAND {in amazement and consternation): 
Is this in earnest. Sire? Have not I wrought 
With every shrewd device to build for you — 
For you and France an overseas domain 
Second to none? Such empire as no dream 
Of Asia's ancient kings, no Caesar's lust 
Could in imagination measure out? 
'Tis won; and would you now, and for mere gold. 
Set it at naught? Surely you speak in jest! 

NAPOLEON (changing his manner to dictation): 
No! Write. Mine is no wayward policy. 



38 Pageant of Lincoln 

Europe is huge enough an enterprise 

To match Napoleon's powers. Great though I am 

Amid these pigmy kings, there is a greater thing 

Than Napoleon is or France or all the states 

That huddle round the Alps, and that thing is 

The free adventure loosed beyond the seas 

To free a wilderness and set the plan 

Of heaven's constellations on the flag 

Bearing men's empiry over plain and hill! 

Shall I, an adventurer, too, withstand the will 

Of free Adventure in her own free land? 

God would destroy me, then, in mine own will! 

Write! For Napoleon is resolved to see 

Within this world his glory's shining peer, 

And it shall bear the name America ! 

TALLEYRAND seats himself and writes, while Napoleon 
watches him. Then he rises and turns to the Emperor. 

TALLEYRAND: 

Sire, the deed is writ. Napoleon's name 
Subscribed divides an empire from its emperor. 

NAPOLEON (seating himself and signing): 
You statesmen haggle; we soldiers act. 
And act to bring decision. See, 'tis done! 
Summon Monroe; I'd seal the bargain now. 

TALLEYRAND, obeying, makes a gesture of summoning, 
as if to an ante-room. Monroe enters, and bows to 
Napoleon, still seated. 



The Louisiana Purchase 39 

NAPOLEON: 

Monroe, the purchase you are sent to make 
Is made. I take your price. 'Tis new to me, 
Soldier and emperor, to turn bargains-man 
And chaffer in the market-place; but here 
Is merchandise that's worthy such as I, 
An empire put to sale, which who should sell 
If not an emperor! The deed is signed. 

NAPOLEON thrusts the paper toward Monroe, who takes 
it, scans it briefly, and turns to Napoleon: 

MONROE: 

Imperial acts befit imperial men. 

This deed which now you give America 

Means more to France and more to all the world 

And to Napoleon's glory it means more 

Than many martial victories. Receive 

My thanks and Jefferson's; and know, henceforth 

The arms of our United States shall be 

Entwined with France in lasting amity! 

MONROE points to the entwined arms of the two nations 
on the curtain, as he speaks. Napoleon rises and grasps 
him by the hand. 

NAPOLEON: 

So be it. Men, upon the acts of men 
Mean values set, and on Napoleon's acts 
Green tongues will spit their scorn. I am content, 
For from this deed shall rise a shining power 
To slay their slander and lift up for France 



W Pageant of Lincoln 

The hand of friendship in her hour of need.— 
Adieu, Monroe! — Console you, Talleyrand! 

MONROE goes out right, Talleyrand left. Napoleon is 
alone. 

NAPOLEON: 

I was First Consul, am an Emperor. 
If I did betray, in one small measure, 
The Republic that I served, I have atoned! 
The Republic o'er the sea, I have made great — 
Our sister Fates born of one Destiny! 

NAPOLEON stands with folded arms while the Grenadiers 
lower their flags in salute. The trumpet sounds again. 
The Grenadiers once more change place with the American 
color -bearers, while Napoleon goes out, left. Servants 
remove the chair and table. The scene is Washington 
again. The Americans salute with the American colors. 
Enter Jefferson and Monroe, cordially. 

JEFFERSON: 

Monroe, I welcome you to Washington. 
News of your happy ventui-e says you bring 
Deed to Louisiana from Napoleon, 

MONROE (producing the document, which he hands to 
Jefferson) : 

Beyond our dreams I found him generous. 
The deed of sale is here, with treaty rights 
And guarantees such as we gladly give. 



The Louisiana Purchase ^1 

JEFFERSON {examining the document): 
From Florida and Mississippi's mouth, 
Louisiana, reaching to her source 
And westward to the mountains, all is ours! — 
From this rich gift, Monroe, proud states shall rise 
To bless our names, and in remembrance build 
Altars to liberty, lit with undying flame! 
Mine has been the task, to speed the venture; 
Yours it shall be to guide the forming states, 
For James Monroe shall yet be President. 

MONROE {advancing, and lifting his hand, as if in oath) : 
If that day comes, I here and now make oath 
To use my power to give America, 
In both her continents and all her lands, 
The freeman's right to fashion freemen's homes, 
Untouched by Old World hates, and undespoiled 
By kings and their ambitions. Here I swear 
America shall govern her own Destiny! 

THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS salute with their flags. 
The trumpet sounds. Monroe and Jefferson go out, right, 
to the horses waiting for them. They mount, as do 
Napoleon and Talleyrand, left. The orchestra plays a few 
bars of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and then follows 
with the "Marseillaise," to which the company march out, 
the Americans to the right, the French to the left, while the 
curtain-hearers and servitors retire center. 



END OF PART II 



PART III 
THE PLAINSMEN 



Characters and Chorus: 
CHORUS OF INDIANS 
INDIAN SCOUTS 
INDIAN CHIEFTAIN 
CHORUS OF VOYAGEURS 
LEADER OF VOYAGEURS 
CHORUS OF PIONEERS 
HARVEST MAIDEN 
SPIRIT OF THE CORN 
NURSE MAIDS 



The Plainsmen 



PRELUDE^ huilt on Indian musical themes, opens the 
Part. A flute breaks in with an Omaha Indian melody^ 
and there enters a procession of Indian choristers chanting 
the Song oj the- Prairies, 

CHORUS OF INDIANS: 

Very pleasant are the prairies, oh ! 
Wide is the trail of many buffalo; 
Here it was our fathers wandered through the moons 

of long ago, 
Following on the trails that lead to and fro . . . 
Very pleasant are the grassy prairies, oh ! 
Following on the trail of many buffalo . . . 
Ah, where went our elders, there all must go. 

TWO SCOUTS advance, with hands shading their peering 
eyes. 

FIRST SCOUT: 

Nebraska bluffs! Nebraska hills! 
I see the low Nebraska hills! 

SECOND SCOUT: 

Nebraska plains! Nebraska streams! 
I see them where the sunlight gleams! 



46 Pageant of Lincoln 

CHIEFTAIN {advancing and raising his calumet): 
Thou shining Sky! 
Thou grassy Earth! 
Ye Winds that sigh 
With Heaven's breath! ... 
Ye make my heart rejoice! 
My spirit ye make young! . . . 
With song my voice, 
With joy my tongue, 
Hills of Nebraska, shall praise ye! . . . 
Glad Earth! Glad Sky! 
Rejoice again 

hills that did upraise me — 
Nebraska, gracious Mother of Men! . . , 

THE MARCH and chant are resumed. The Indians circle 
about the stage and range themselves on the right, forward. 
On the last beat of their drums there breaks in a vigorous, 
exultant march, to which enter, in marching order, a 
group of the early explorers of Nebraska — the French 
voijageurs, — singing as they march. 

CHORUS OF VOYAGEURS: 

En avant! En avant! En avant! . . . 

En avant! ... 

Cn, on into the Wilderness, 

Seeking the golden realm of Heart's Desire! 

On, on breaking new trails, we pass, 

On into no man's land, on to the sunset fire! 

En avant! En avant! En avant! . . , 

En avant! . . . 



The Plainsmen J^7 

A VOYAGEUR: 

What pleasant land is this before our eyes, 
Whose rolling lawns lead on until their green 
Kisses the azure hem of Paradise? 
In all the world no fairer sight is seen ! 

LEADER: 

It is the Prairie! 

It is the boundless bosom of the West, 

Circling in swell and swale from crest to crest 

Of clear horizons, till all earth and sky 

In one wide vision Nature glorify! 

It is the Prairie! 

Rose-panoplied with dawn, arched with the blue 

Of kindly noontide, soothed with starry night: 

With spring m.ade sweet, grateful with summer's hue, 

With autumn fruitful, blest with winter's white! 

It is the Prairie! 

O'er all her verdant reaches there shall be, 

Throughout the centuries that count men's days, 

Rich yearly gift- from her full treasury, 

The sower's song, the harvester's glad praise! 

CHORUS OF VOYAGEURS: 

En avant! En avant! En avant! . . . 

En avant! . . . 

On, on, into the Prairie-land! 

Here is the golden realm of Heart's Desire ! 

Here, here, shall rise for every hand 

A happy homestead and a fruitful byre! 

En avant! En avant! En avant! . . . 

En avant! . . . 



48 Pageant of Lincoln 

THE VOYAGEURS advance' until they come left forward, 
where they station themselves opposite the Indian choristers. 
Horns announce a new entry, and an ox-drawn prairier- 
schooner, with drivers, armed with long whips, enters^ 

CHORUS OF WHIPSTERS: 

Pioneers, Pioneers f 
Bring the wagon, yoke the steers, 
Cast behind all doubts and fears! 
Forward, through the waiting years! 

Pioneers, Pioneers! 

'Tis your toil shall break the road; 
'Tis your backs shall bear the load ; 
'Tis your souls must feel the goad! 

Where ye sow shall others reap; 
Others laugh where ye must weep; 
But your deathless souls shall keep 
Vigil through the waiting years. 
Pioneers, Pioneers! 

Snap! Crack! 
Thud and thwack! 

'Tis the chanty of the plains — 
Never, never, turn we back ! 

O'er the trails that rise and dip. 

To the whistling of the whip 

And the clanking of the chains- 
Snap ! Crack ! 
Thud and thwack! 

Sing the chanty of the Plains — 
Never, never, turn we back! 



The Plainsmen J^9 

THE PRAIRIE SCHOONER, with its whipster chorus, 
passes on, taking its station at the right rear, between 
the group of Indians and the center entrance. At the same 
time there enters, guided by the Harvest Maiden, a second 
float, representing the harvest, shocks of yellow corn, with 
the Corn Spirit presiding. All greet the entrance of this 
symbolic car of the Corn. 

HARVEST MAIDEN: 

Daughter of Heaven, Earth's first-born, 
Hail to thee! Hail to thee! Spirit of Corn! 
Thou at whose bounteous feasts we are fed, 
Who givest us life in giving us bread : 
Hail to thee! Hail to thee! Spirit of Corn! 

Thou who dost welcome the Sun-Father's glance 
With tassel and spear flung aloft to his Morn, 
With nodding of plume and waving of lance. 
Thou who dost make the green gardens to dance 
With joy of thee, joy of thee. Spirit of Corn! 

Thou who dost gather the sunlight and rain 
Till the body of Earth with Heaven is o'erlain, — 
Life, life is thy largess, who givest us grain! 
Daughter of Heaven, Earth's first-born, 
Hail to thee! Hail to thee! Spirit of Com! 

THE CAR OF THE CORN circling slowly during this 
paean now takes its place at the rear of the Voyageurs 
and opposite the Prairie-Schooner, thus completing the 
crescent arrangement of the choric groups. As they take 



50 Pageant of Lincoln 

their position the orchestra strikes in with a spritely 
measure. 

CHORUS: 

Corn, Cattle, and Contentment, 

These are the magic three 
That bring to broad Nebraska 

Her fair felicity, — 
That make of her a dwelling-place 

For men of every race ... 
Corn, Cattle, and Contentment, 

The magic three! 

RIGHT CHORIC GROUP: 

But the future yet shall bring 
Richer, richer harvesting! 

LEFT CHORIC GROUP: 

What can this rare treasure be 
Better than the magic three? 

ENTER the Nursemaids, each with a gaily adorned baby 
carriage. They advance in a spritely dance while the 
chorus greets them. 

CHORUS ALL: 

Better Babies! Nebraska Babies! 

These shall ever be 
What shall give to broad Nebraska 

True felicity! 



The Plainsmen 51 

Better Babies! Nebraska Babies! 

Better men and women, too! 
Cradled on the rolling prairies, 

Swung beneath the heaven's blue! 

A NURSE-MAIDS' DANCE, humor esque, follows, leading 
up to the final chorus. 

FINALE: 

Nebraska, Nebraska, 

Thee we obey! 
Jewelled with the Night, Nebraska, 

Diademed with Day! 
Nebraska, Nebraska, 

Land with promise blest, 
Brightest of the stars emblazoned, 

Queen of the West ! 

Exeunt, marchi^ig. 



END OF PART III 



PART IV 
THE MAKING OF THE STATE 



Characters and Figures: 
SENATOR DOUGLAS 
SENATOR DIXON 
SENATOR SUMNER 
PRESIDENT JOHNSON 
SECRETARY TO THE PRESIDENT 
GHOST OF LINCOLN 
FIGURE OF THE NORTH 
FIGURE OF THE SOUTH 
PAGES AND ATTENDANTS 
SOLDIERS OF NORTH AND SOUTH 



The Making of the State 



TRUMPETS are heard, right and left, answering each 
other with military hugle-call. Enter, right, a company of 
American soldiers of the Civil War period, with banner 
and bugler; left, a company of Confederate soldiers, sim- 
ilarly provided. The two companies foryn in wing groups, 
well separated and somewhat back. They symbolize the 
approaching Civil War, whose time is not yet; for the 
event about to be represented, the passage of the Kansas- 
Nebraska bill, occurred in I85J4.. 

THE SPIRIT OF THE NORTH enters, center, repre- 
sented by Liberty armed with a sword and accompanied by 
a Toiler with a sledge. They pause for a moment and 
then advance to right forefront, where they assume the 
attitude of a statuesque group, Liberty proffering the sword 
to the Toiler, who relinquishes his hammer. Behind them 
come pages bearing a pole-swung curtain which they erect 
behind the group. 

THE SPIRIT OF THE SOUTH enters, center, repre- 
sented by a Master and Slave, the latter in shackles. These 
are followed also by curtain-bearers, and take their position, 
left, opposite the preceding group. 

TRUMPETS sound again. Enter, center, four senators — 



56 Pageant of Lincoln 

Douglas, Dixon, Seward, Sumner, in the costumes of the 
period. They advance preceded by Senate pages and 
followed by curtain-bearers and other pages. In the fore- 
center, just behind and between the two symbolic groups, 
the Senators stop; the great curtain is swung as a back- 
ground behind them, revealing the arms of the United 
States. Pages place four senatorial chairs, two right and 
two left, and the senators seat themselves. The scene now 
represents the Senate Chamber, Washington, 185 J,.. 

ROLL OF DRUMS calls for quiet. It is followed by three 
vigorous beats, like the fall of a gavel calling for order. 
The Senate is in session. 

DOUGLAS (rising): 

Senators of the United States! 

I come once more to plead a precious cause 

Which oft before I've plead, — Nebraska's cause. 

Beyond the Missouri's bluffs there lies the vast 

And fertile prairie, drained by the spreading Platte, 

Which is today a Canaan to men's eyes, 

A haven to their hopes, and to their hearts 

As dear with promise as are Eden's bowers! 

The patient folk who there would make their homes 

Wait upon you to give their prospect form. 

On you to raise the bars that close the gate. 

And by high act of Congress to lay ope 

The golden West to happy settlement. 

The virgin prairies wait, an eager bride, 

The singing plowman and his marriage song! 



The Making of the Stale 57 

DOUGLAS seats hlmselj. SUMNER rises. 

SUMNER: 

The Senator from the growing West speaks well. 

E'en we of the East feel sensibly the lure 

That draws men on and on toward the shining hills. 

But there's an issue deeper than mere growth 

Divides these United States and sets the brake 

On the wheels of progress! Say, how shall we grow, 

Bond states or free, into the untamed West? 

Shall we maintain the Missouri Compromise 

A nd lay the airy edge of latitude 

Athwart our plains, to cut, an unseen knife. 

In equal parts freedom and slavery? 

Can these two share one flag eternally? 

DOUGLAS (rising to reply, as Sumner is seated): 

Judge not that I have given no thought to this. 
Our past is loud with windy compromise; 
But 'tis an evil thing time cannot slay, 
Which like the Hydra lifts a venomed head 
To each new victor. On that document 
Our fathers drew, our Constitution, I 
Do rest my hopes, granting to each state 
The sovereign right to its own sovereign will, 
And free determination of its Law. 
This sovereignty, to those who make their homes 
There in the wilderness, I freely give— 
The ancient right of true democracy! 

DIXON (rising, as Douglas is seated): 

Well speaks Douglas! We of the South doubt not 



58 Pageant of Lincoln 

The emptiness of compromise that seeks 
Vainly to curb the natural lives of men 
And blur the clear distinctions Nature draws- 
I here and now do move that we repeal 
The vain attempt to bi;id our fellows' wills 
In futile words: the Missouri Compromise 
Is tried and is found wanting; let ft end! 

SUMNER and SEWARD both leap to their feet; eren 
DOUGLAS is startled, 

SEWARD (gaining the floor): 

What thing is this! Shall all the weary toils 
Of Clay and Webster and the nation's great 
Be blown to powdered nothingness by us? 
Shall we go down once more to anarchy, 
Shattering the house of state ere the cement 
Can bind its shaken walls? What statesmanship 
Is this that would snap wide the hard-forged link 
That makes us one, and like a traitorous spy 
Open our gates to madness and to war? 

SUMNER (on his feet again, before Seward is seated): 

The Pilgrims trod New England's rocky shores 

For love of freedom! Washington and those 

Mho in that day were great in love of right. 

And love of liberty which God gives men 

A& birthright, fought to maintain the precious gift! 

So may the future judge us if we stand 

Not true to this great heritage they leave I 



The Making of the Stale S9 

DOUGLAS (leaping energetically to his feet): 

Men of the Senate, I accept the glove, 

Challenge to Liberty, which the South flings down! 

There is no compromise within my soul, 

And in my faith no compromising doubt 

That there, upon the sunlit prairie-lands. 

The men who make their homes will keep their troth 

With Right and Freedom! I but ask for them 

That privilege of conscience and of deed 

By conscience guided, for which our fathers died! . . . 

DOUGLAS pauses. As he does so a map of the proposed 
Nebraska-Kansas territories appears upon the curtain {at 
night, as an illumination; other lights being extinguished), 

DOUGLAS {prophetically): 

Behold, the new-born realm! Can any doubt 
The right to polity of such lands as these? 
Broad as the full horizon, freely lit 
By all the splendors of the unveiled sun. 
Fruitful with Earth's fresh green, a granary 
To states and nations and to all the world, 
Shall it be said we set our pigmy wills 
To bar the gates to Destinies that move 
Resistlessly as this? Men will t!ome here 
With spade and plow to turn the fallow soil. 
And reap their labor's tithe, — can such men be, 
Breathing free air and blest with sunshine free, 
Lovers of lesser thing than Liberty? 
Never! My faith is in them! Let the ayes 
Affirm men's right to homes beneath such skies! 



60 Pageant of Lincoln 

EOUGLAS pauses for a response. From the groups with- 
out, on either side, comes the cry of: "Aye! Aye! Aye!" 

DOUGLAS: 

The act is passed; the Territories formed. 
Kansas and Nebraska now shall be 
Lands of fair promise to humanity! 

THE MAP vanishes from the hack ground. The Senators 
go out. Pages remove the Se^iatorial chairs. Military 
bugles sound ''Call to Arms"; the orchestra plays "John 
Brown's Body" and "Dixie" to symbolize the Civil 
War. 

BUGLES sound "Taps," symbolizing the end of the War. 
In the symbolic group of the North, Liberty offers the 
sledge once more to the Toiler, who has cast aside his 
swcrd. In the group of the South, the Slave rises, his 
shackles broken. 

PAGES place a chair and table before the curtain. A 
candelabrum, with lighted candles is set on the table. The 
time is now the Reconstruction Period, after the War; 
the year 1867. The scene represents the office of President 
Johnson. The bill for the admission of Nebraska to state- 
hood has just been passed over his veto. 

LOLL OF DRUMS amwunces the new scene. President 
Johnson enters and seats himself at the table, resting his 
chin moodily upon his hand. 



The Making of the State 61 

JOHNSON {soliloquizing): 

War's aftermath! What problems, tangled, tough, 
And snarled with human obstinacies arise 
After war's madness! I were less than man 
To escape untouched the time's distemper , . . Oh, 
To shift this burden to that one great soul 
Strong to sustain it, — mart3rred now, and gone! 
But I shall play no coward, — no, though I be 
The loneliest man in these United States! 

A knock is heard. 

JOHNSON: 

A knock? Business from the Senate, I doubt not, 
That hates and would impeach me. — Enter, sir, 

SECRETARY to the President enters with a paper ivhich 
he lays on the table. 

SECRETARY: 

Over your veto Congress has repassed 
The bill that gives Nebraska statehood rights. 
Subject to that provision which you deem 
Unjust, namely, that the state shall draw no line 
Hurtful to the suffrage of our colored citizens. 
As you know, the law commands your signature. 

JOHNSON: 

I know the law. I have but played the part 
Conviction forced, in vetoing their bill. 
It is not enmity, but friendliness 



62 Pageant of Lincoln 

To the people of Nebraska that impelled 
The answer which I gave when Congress chose 
To take away the new state's sovereign right 
To frame its suffrage law. Congress again 
Denies this right. What my duty is 
I must resolve alone. Leave me the bill. 

SECRETARY hows and goes out. JOHNSON remains in 
meditation. 

JOHNSON: 

What pains beset a man torn diverse ways 

By unclear duties! The law says I must sign, 

And yet the thing I sign runs counter Law, 

If I have truth of judgment. I am sworn 

As President to keep the nation's laws. 

Obey her Constitution, — yet today 

I know not which is troth : to sign this act. 

As law commands, though it deny the Law, 

Or boldly it destroy . . . Oh, had I now 

The wisdom of great Lincoln for my guide! 

What would he say? Sign, or refuse to sign? . . . 

JOHNSON pauses; then starts suddenly, as if hearing 

something. 

JOHNSON: 

What's that? . . . Methought I heard a voice. 
Like Lincoln's own, commanding me to sign! . . . 
ril ask, I'll ask again! Lincoln, shall I sign? . . . 



The Making of the State 63 

JOHNSON has risen from his chair, and stands with hands 
on the table. In the shadow appears the Ghost of 
LINCOLN, swathed in a long black toga. 

GHOST {extending a commanding arm): 
Sign! 

JOHNSON sinks back into his chair. 

JOHNSON: 

Art thou in truth the soul of our nation's guide? 
Great Lincoln come again in counsel here 
To map our puzzled ways? 

GHOST: 

Yea, I am he. 

My spirit lives, and shall live, governing 

America's ideals! I bid you sign, 

For with the soul of Lincoln leading theirs 

My countrymen to freedom must be true! 

The GHOST recedes, JOHNSON half rising to follow it. 
As it disappears he sinks back, and then, without hesita- 
tion, affixes his signature. He rises, with the paper in 
hand. 

JOHNSON: 

Nebraska is a state! What men may say 
Of Andrew Johnson is no matter now. 
With Lincoln's soul inspiring, it shall shine 



6^ Pageant of Lincoln 

Bright in the constellation that bestars 

Our flag with glory, — Lincoln's name shall be 

Its pledge to Honor and Humanity! 

A BLARE of trumpets welcomes the new state. The orchestra 
strikes up "Nebraska" which is taken up by the unseen 
Chorus. The Soldiers file out, right and left, and the 
central groups recede through the center gate. 



END OF PART IV 



PART V 
NEBRASKA AND THE NATION 



Characters and Chorus: 

FIFER AND DRUMMER OF 1776 

COLUMBIA 

THE COLONIES 

THE STATES 

SOLDIERS OF NORTH AND SOUTH 

NEBRASKA 

PRNCESSION OF THE YEARS 

BANNER-BEARERS 

LIBERTY 



Nebraska and the Nation 



ROLL OF DRUMS. The sound of fife and drums is heard, 
and the fifer and drummers enter, playing "Yankee Doodle." 
It is "THE SPIRIT OF 1776" entering to symbolize 
the love of Liberty and Justice in which the United States 
of America came into being as one of the world's great 
nations, 

FIFER AND DRUMMERS pass, while to "Hail Colum- 
bia" enter Columbia and the Thirteen Colonies — the first 
Stars on the Flag. They deploy with picturesque evolu- 
tions. Columbia is attended by a group of boyish soldiers 
in the Revolutionary uniform. The Colonies, led by 
Columbia, perform a stately dance to a military measure. 

BLARE OF BUGLES announces the coming of the States, 
who enter from various points in groups, and move in 
starry squadrons, to a lighter music, back and forth across 
the stage. This is a symbol of the growth of the Nation. 
Columbia welcomes each group as it comes, while all 
range themselves back of the thirteen original Stars. 

MUSIC changes suddenly. "John Brown's Body," 
"Dixie," "Marching Through Georgia," "Maryland, My 
Maryland," "The Battle-Hymn of the Republic," follow 
one another in quick succession, while, one party from the 



68 Pageant of Lincoln 

right, the other from the left, there enter two chorus groups, 
one representing the forces of the Union, the other those of 
the Confederacy, with the flags of each section. They 
execute the pantomime of war, folio tved eagerly by Columbia, 
who at last, as it were, reconciles them. The banners are 
crossed at the center forming an arch. 

"NEBRASKA" is sounded by the orchestra and as the 
chorus of Stars and States takes up the refrain, there enters 
from the center the new-come state, Nebraska, admitted 
shortly after the close of the great war for the preservation 
of that Union of which she is now to become a shining 
member. In the background, a military group displays 
the battle-flag of the First Nebraska Regiment, entered for 
service in 1861. Columbia receives the new State and 
presents her to the audience, thus completing the great 
tableau. 

THE MUSIC changes to a mysterious and prophetic 
temper, and filing before all, with a symbolism at once 
exalted and beautiful, the Procession of the Years sweeps 
by, each bearing her magical gift in a bowl of iridescent 
crystal. As they pass, they salute Columbia and Nebraska. 
The chorus of Stars hails them. 

CHORUS: 

Ye are the Years that come and go! 

Ye are the Years that bear Life's precious gift! 

With flowery Spring ye come, pass with Winter's snow, 



Nebraska and the Nation 

Out of the Future peer, on into Memory drift! 
Ye are Life's Years! Be each a perfect gem, 
Adding new luster to her diadem! 



THE YEARS take the stations on either side of Columbia 
and Nebraska. The banner-bearers advance, with the 
Stars and Stripes, while at the same time, the Spirit of 
Liberty, announced by the Fifer and Drummers of '76, 
who follow her, enters from the central gate and advances 
to a post beside the Flag, and opposite Columbia. In the 
final stage picture thus made, the central position is held 
by the Flag of the United States. To the right of this 
stands Liberty, and a little behind the Fife and Drums of 
'76. To the left of the Flag bearers, is Columbia, with 
Nebraska just before her, and the little Revolutionary 
soldiers behind. A crescent background to these is formed 
by the group of the Years, to the left, and of the Thirteen 
Colonies, to right. Behind all are the groups of the States, 
while to the right and left forefronts, respectively, are the 
groups of the North and the South with their flags. The 
standard-bearer at the center uplifts the Flag, while Liberty 
speaks. 

LIBERTY: 

Thou Flag of my Country — 
Thou banner of my native land — 
Thou Stars and Stripes of mine America — 
Hail, hail, hail! Forever, hail! 



70 Pageant of Lincoln 

I behold thee, and my heart leaps high, 
Greeting thy rushing waves with answering wave 
Of blood resurgent, till my body rings 
With the clear hymn of liberty and thee, 
Flag, flag of my country ! 

Conceived thou wert in peril, 

Painted in hour of war, 

And thy reddened stripes furrow thy field of white 

As war's red share furrows the white of peace. 

Telling what men have dared and done for liberty I 

Conceived thou wert in peril, and in hope. 
And all thy blue — star-spangled like the skies — ■ 
Sings of the watches of the night 
That men have kept in love of thee. 
In love of thee and of the emulous stars 
Which send hope's answer back from heaven ! 

Concord and Trenton, Orleans and Gettysburg, 

How many fields have seen thy tattered folds 

Wave the last triumph to the eyes of men 

Who sang their death-song to thee I 

On how many seas 

Have tall ships borne thee at the peak 

Mid thundering guns and wild careen 

Of fire less ruddy than men's fiery hearts' 

Thou Flag of my Country, 

Men have died for thee! 

With cheers on their lips and gladness in their souls, 

With faith in thee and me! 



Nebraslca and the Nation 71 

O save me to thee! 

Be thou mine and my country's prayer — 

Into my life let thy bright image burn 

Like purifying flame, like tempering steel, 

Like heaven's night, star-glorious! 

Make thou my spirit clean. 

Clean in the love of liberty and thee, 

Uncleft in truth and loyalty! 

Let thine ensanguined stripes — 
Like th' ensanguined stripes on Christ's white body- 
Bid me be noble ever! 
Let all the watching stars 
Of vigilant heaven shine 
From thy clear blue on me, and in me find 
Such constancy to thee as heaven's is 
In all her constant stars! 

O Flag of my Country, 
Be for me the purge that shall bear fa,r— 
Yea, in my blood if need be- 
All deed, all thought, all love, 
That measures not thine honor and thy troth I 
Make thou of me a blade of strength, 
A fortress stone, a staff 
To raise thee, raise thee, ever! 
Let not nobility 
Perish from America! 
Flag, Flag of my Country! 

''THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER," ivhich chorus 
and audience join in singing, ends the Pageant. 

THE END 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



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